Steiner’s spiritual philosophy is called “anthroposophy”. All Waldorf-trained teachers are educated in anthroposophy as a pedagogical approach, and make a commitment to applying the tenets of anthroposophy. The majority of Waldorf teachers consider themselves to be anthroposophists. Waldorf teachers have a deep respect for Steiner’s perspective and for the effectiveness of his curriculum and methods.
However, anthroposophy is not taught in the classroom. In fact, it is a tenet of anthroposophy that it’s best for parents to guide the spiritual/religious education of their children, and that as children grow they will reach a level of maturity from which they can choose their own spiritual path.
The main result of the spiritual background to Waldorf education is that one senses a deep caring for the children and for life, when one spends time on a Waldorf campus. The teachers are working with each child from a deep sense of caring for the children, and desire to help each child manifest his or her potential.
In addition to the caring, there is also some more overt spirituality evident in the classroom. Children are exposed to spiritual ideas and stories from various religious traditions, and are taught to respect various religious viewpoints. The youngest children will hear terms like “Mother Earth” and “Father Sun”. Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated. Older children (starting perhaps in second grade) will be exposed to monotheism, including Christian stories and others.
In addition, Waldorf teaches moral reasoning and helps children develop an ethical compass. As a parent, it isn’t enough for my child to become a smart person; I also want him to become someone who values life and the well-being of himself, others, and our world.
Since Waldorf has a spiritual orientation, many parents want some assurance that their children will not be indoctrinated in the school’s spiritual ideas. A survey of Waldorf graduates indicates that the vast majority did not feel that they were.
I can say from my experience that I have not ever felt any hint of indoctrination, but rather lots and lots of caring. The spiritual orientation is evident, and I appreciate the way in which it is incorporated into the rhythm of school life. I am also happy for my child to be with families who have a variety of religious and spiritual beliefs in the school, as well as those having no particular spiritual beliefs.
If you want a good learning experience for your child and a healthy network of friends, it benefits you for the private school you choose to have higher expectations of its families than you would find in public schools. As an example, if you want to raise your child without excessive influence from TV and other media, it really helps if your school asks all the parents to limit media exposure. Otherwise, your child will go to another child’s home for a play date and come back asking why he doesn’t get to watch cartoons all Saturday morning. In addition, children who watch a lot of TV will be bringing themes from TV into their play at school, and these may not be the healthiest themes.
See our FREE REPORT for more information on how electronic media exposure can hamper a child’s education, and why it’s important to limit it!
A good Waldorf school will ask parents to limit the TV and other media exposure of their young child, as well as exposure to video games, other electronic toys, and computers (until later grades). They will want parents to focus instead on exposing their young child to nature and natural activities, such as hiking, playing outdoors, creating artwork, making music, playing with natural toys, imaginative games, etc. It is easier to raise your child in this way if you are part of a network of families that upholds similar values.
Waldorf schools also ask parents to feed their children good, wholesome food and make sure they get plenty of rest. A Waldorf classroom has a daily rhythm, with activities that happen at about the same time each day, and a weekly rhythm, with activities happening on certain days of the week, to meet a child’s need for order. They encourage parents to create a similar rhythm at home. A Waldorf teacher also generally makes herself or himself available to consult with parents who are dealing with challenging behaviors at home.
Waldorf schools also ask parents to wait until at least age 11-12, ideally, before putting their children into league sports. This is primarily because in league sports, parents have no control over the coaches and the other parents. It is very common for league sports to get very competitive, and for parents or coaches to put heavy pressure on children to perform well. According to Waldorf philosophy (and common sense, in my opinion), this type of pressure is bad for young children, who would be better served doing activities just for fun. Parents like us who want to share sports with younger children can find ways to do so without league competition.
In addition, it is not beneficial for a young child to over-specialize in any one sport, because there is no sport that develops the full range of physical coordination. What single sport involves running, catching objects of various sizes and shapes, throwing, kicking, aiming, hitting with an implement, hopping on one or two feet, jumping over things, skipping, spinning around, climbing, balancing on one foot, balancing on something thin, walking backwards, rhythmical movement, moving with music, and moves that would be hard to describe? In contrast, going on a nature walk could potentially involve all of these movements, and they are all necessary for a child to fully get to know his body.
Waldorf schools generally have some clothing requirements, as well. At minimum, they will ask parents to avoid clothing for young children that have images associated with the media, like Bugs Bunny or Sponge Bob. Our school has some additional requirements along these lines.
There are other requests that are made of parents, but in my experience these are the main ones that are somewhat unique.
I am happy to say that Waldorf has a big emphasis on social development. In fact, in kindergarten, that was really the main thing I wanted for my child. In kindergarten, they spend a great deal of their time making friends and playing together, with a supportive, loving staff watching over them and giving gentle guidance.
In upper grades, they learn communication skills to help them collaborate well with others and create healthy relationships. This survey shows that the vast majority of Waldorf graduates (96%) highly value their interpersonal friendships.
A glance at the world indicates to me that we need more relationship skills, not less. Happy adults have meaningful, healthy relationships. Yet standard classrooms are limiting play time and in most cases devote little attention to fostering these skills.
In addition, Waldorf schools is devoted to guiding a child’s emotional development, to help every child grow into an emotionally healthy, well-rounded adult. One thing that helps a young child’s emotional health is imaginative play. Studies show that children in general have less ability to regulate themselves today than they did 60 years ago. Self-regulation means controlling impulses, behavior, and emotions. Lack of self-regulation is associated with drug use and crime. One possible explanation for the decline of self-regulation skills is that children spend less and less time at imaginative play, in which children naturally use “private speech”, which is an important skill for self-regulation.
Young children get to play outdoors, run and jump, act out stories, play imaginative games of their own creation, listen to stories, sing songs, paint, color, and make things. There are natural toys available that are typically made of wood or natural cloth. Waldorf style toys are typically not finished in detail, leaving room for the imagination. There are geometrically shaped blocks and naturally-shaped blocks. There are hats and squares of silk cloth in various colors, which can be used for impromptu costumes.
On a physical level, the main premise of play is for a child to have the freedom to move in natural ways, to fully develop his relationship with his body.
While mainstream schools are focusing on rote memorization, Waldorf teaches how to learn and how to figure things out. Both approaches can yield good test scores in the upper grades and college, but reasoning ability is more important in being successful in life.
One thing that is different in most Waldorf schools is that the children keep the same “main lesson” teacher, typically for grades one through eight. I am fine with this, as it will simplify things to have that continuity and not have to start over each year with a new teacher. They also have subject teachers for specialized lessons, including eurhythmy (see above), music, and foreign languages. In the upper grades there may be special teachers for math & science. Waldorf schools may differ from each other in what special subjects are taught, and which subjects employ subject teachers.
There are typically no textbooks for the first five grades. Instead, each child has a workbook that she fills in with what she learns. This is very creative, and it is training for being competent individuals, not just people who can check the right answer on a multiple choice test. Starting in sixth grade, there are textbooks along with the workbooks.
Waldorf schools celebrate various festivals throughout the year, which can vary from one school to the next. Our school celebrates with a Harvest Festival, a Halloween Journey, Advent, and a May Faire, plus many other festivities along the way. Festivals are community-building and they give the children special events to mark the passage of the seasons of the year.
Waldorf teachers really strive to create a consistency and rhythm in the classroom. For this reason, most Waldorf classrooms limit parental visits to a greater extent than most other schools do. Whenever an extra person is in the room, the dynamics of any classroom will change, and students can be confused about whom to pay attention to. So students in Waldorf classrooms benefit from the greater consistency than they might otherwise have. At the same time, Waldorf teachers also recognize the value of parents’ connection with the classroom, and there are certain times when parents are invited to come and visit or help with a class project. Groups of parents can tour the classes on “open house” days. In addition, my own experience with Waldorf teachers is that they make themselves very available to parents, including “parent night” meetings, where they explain various aspects of their methodology and give examples of how material is presented. This also gives me a connection with the classroom, because I have a greater understanding of what the teacher is striving for and how he is going about it.
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We hope these questions are useful to you! Parents who are considering private schools want the best for their children. We hope you end up as thrilled with your choice as we are with ours! |